I need to buy tickets from Milan to Venice, then from Venice to Florence where I'm going to then rent a car for the rest of the trip. Does anyone know how to buy 1st class tickets here in the states before going? Thanks

Buy them from www.raileurope.com - - and pay 40-70% more than if you were simply to wait 'til you get to europe to buy them.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Rex is right. I took his advice last year. The only reason I would buy here instead of at the station(s) in Italy is if smoking is a problem for you. Buying at the last minute in Italy meant we had to settle for the smoking car. (And believe me, they smoke.)

Of course, I didnt say they had to wait to the last minute. In fact, I understand that tickets for eurostar service should now be purchased at least 3 hours in advance. 24 or 48 hours in advance might suit some travelers better to get the seats they really want.<BR>

In general, I think first class is less busy than second class which is good enough for most people. The journeys from Milano to Venezia and Venezia to Firenze are not too long and have plenty of trains: if you get to Italy and find your first choice train is fully booked, there will be another one an hour later. In September, I got a Eurostar train from Bari to Bologna: when I bought the ticket, the next train leaving in half an hour had no non-smoking seats in second class, so I booked on the next one leaving two hours later, and if that one had been full, there was an Intercity train I could have caught.

up to the top<BR>

Just returned from Italy. Arrived in Milan, took the bus to Milan Central train station and hopped on an InterCity train to Venice. We bought our reserved first class train tickets from RailEurope here in the US but we were glad we did. The train was full, standing room only. If we waited to purchase the tickets when we got to Milan, we would have had to stand all the way to Venice. If you're traveling with large or lots of luggage, I'd recommend going on EuroStar trains which have storage racks in 1st class. The InterCity trains don't have such storage racks (and the EuroStar trains are much nicer/modern).<BR><BR>I'd purchase your Milan-Venice tickets here in US and purchase your Venice-Florence tickets in Italy. Trenitalia now has computer kiosks where you can reserve/book/pay for train tickets at the station using credit cards. If they're working, they can be very convenient and save you the time from waiting in line.

to the top, for Steph<BR>